Jefferson (Wine and More) #AtoZChallenge

 When you hear the name Thomas Jefferson (the third President of the United States), you don't normally think of wine.  But if you like wine, you may very well know about the connection between Jefferson and the modern American wine industry.

Thomas Jefferson loved wine.  He was introduced to different types of wine during and after the Revolutionary War, both by Hessian  (German mercenaries fighting on the British side) prisoners of war and later, to French wine when Jefferson was our nation's first ambassador to France.  He built a wine cellar at Monticello, his home near Charlottesville, Virginia. 

Monticello, near Charlottesville, Virginia

Jefferson's dream was to take old world grapevines, grow them at Monticello and nearby, and make the European type wines he enjoyed, but the Vitis vinifera he tried to grow died from diseases such as black rot and from the ravages of a pest called phylloxera  (a relative of aphids) found in Northeast American soil.  Today, we know how to graft Vitis vinifera stock to roots that are resistant to this pest and wine grapes are grown in many regions of the United States.

Ironically, the area around Monticello is now a wine grape growing region, and the county Charlottesville is in has more than 40 wineries.

Enter the Jefferson Vineyards, which my spouse and I visited several years ago.  Here is an interior picture, complete with a bust of Jefferson.

Another interior shot with the chickens I love.

Dreams can come true, but not always in our lifetimes.

 

Jefferson's statue at the State House in Richmond, Virginia, the State Capitol.

Before I end this post, let's return to Monticello for a moment.  These are some of the gardens there today.  Back in Jefferson's day, these gardens and Jefferson's house and properties were tended by enslaved people.  There are many sad truths in the study of history that must be faced head on, and that is one of them.  More so now than in the past, the paradox of liberty (the author of our Declaration of Independence owning humans and even fathering children with a woman he owned) is examined.

I'll end with another view of Monticello.   It's well worth the visit, incidentally, whether you are a student of history, a student of agriculture or architecture, or just someone who wants to know more about our complex third President.

"J" day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme:   "From Florida to Vermont With Stops In Between"